Mario, Luigi, etc. can collect coins to gain extra points or lives. They're also useful for spending at shops.

Coins (sometimes known as Golden Coins) are coins that are found commonly throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Aside from being the apparent currency of the Mushroom Kingdom, they provide many uses for Mario. In the 3D console titles: Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, they are used to replenish Mario's health. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, it is impossible to obtain more than 9,999 of these coins. In various games, some are found in lines or groups on the floor while others are found after defeating enemies, opening boxes, or other events.

In the Paper Mario series of RPGs, coins are actually saved up and used for purchasing items, particularly badges. In Mario Party, coins are gained through winning mini games and are used to purchase stars. They first appeared in Mario Bros, in 1983.

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Prizes

Coins are frequently counted up at the end of the level in a number of games, contributing as high scores or some sort of bonus. Particularly in the platforming games, gathering one hundred coins will score Mario an extra life. In Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, gathering one hundred coins will earn Mario an extra star or shine sprite.

Other Types of Coins

Dragon Coins are coins that are usually found five in each level in Super Mario World. Obtaining all five in a level results in a 1-Up.

Star Coins are coins that are found in New Super Mario Bros. (three per level). Five of these coins will unlock a mushroom house or an alternate stage and 20 will allow the player to buy a new skin from the blue mushroom house. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii they are used to unlock hint videos. In the later game, if all the Star Coins in a world are collected, a new level in World 9 is unlocked. In New Super Mario Bros. 2 they have the same function as in New Super Mario Bros.

Red Coins are red-colored coins found in several games that are found in collections of 8 and a reward is received when all eight are found.

Question Coins are coins that appear in both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. They release a series of coins that dissappear after a specific ammount of time. They sometimes appear near Lumas, where the coins release separate waves of coins. They can also release music notes.

In this game, coins are emphasized. The coins are much more abundant than in other games. The game has a coin counter, which increases even when dying after collecting the coins (as opposed of completing a level). This counter is common to all save files and game modes. One of the goals of the game, besides completing the game itself, is to raise that counter to one million. When playing a level, there is another coin counter which counts the coins collected in that level since the player last entered the level (including after dying in the level). Each level shows the biggest amount of coins collected in the level in a row (which is the biggest value shown in the previous counter, when finishing the level), like in Super Mario 64. There is also the Coin Rush mode, where the player tries to collect the most coins in three levels without dying.

Alongside the kart system of lives, Super Mario Kart had a kind of coin system of health. Coins were scattered on the ground and could be driven over like Question Blocks to be collected. If a player collected 10 or more coins, they could go faster. If a player bumped into another racer, got hit by an item, or fell off the track, they would lose anywhere from one to four coins. Having no coins meant that any contact with any other racer would result in a spin-out. The Coin item simply gave the user an additional 2 coins.

In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, coins are given roughly the same level of importance and behave roughly the same way. There are two major differences. The first is that the amount of coins collected is used to calculate rankings in Grand Prix mode. The second is that 10 coins is no longer the max for speed increases; with enough coins, a racer can drive faster than a Red Shell.

Coins reappeared in the Grand Prixes of Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Collecting them results in a minor speed boost. Getting hit by items like the red shell makes the player drop one to three coins to the track (other racers could then collect those), depending on the number of coins that the player had at the time. If the player falls off the track, Lakitu takes one to three coins from the player. The player can't have more than 10 coins. The game tracks the number of coins collected and rewards the player with new parts for customizing karts after collecting certain amounts of coins. The Coin Runners Battle Mode also returned with a time limit of two minutes.

Coins are a big part of the Mario series. In the Mario Party series, they are used to buy Items, as well as Boo's "service" and the important Stars. Coins are easily obtained, and the player even receives a free 10 coins at the beginning of a game. Coins are obtained by stepping on blue space, winning mini-games and special events. In Mario Party, total Coins are saved, and are used at a shop to buy game affecting items and mini-games. In Mario Party 2, they are used in the same way, but the game affecting items are no longer used. Coins are used as bonuses at the end of a board as the player who won the most coins in Mini-Games and the player who held the highest amount of coins in the game will receive a Star for their accomplishment. However, in Mario Party 9, the use of coins is completely scrapped in favor of Mini Stars. Mini Stars and Coins reappear in Mario Party 10.